remain. The
question of constitutional government is therefore very important,
but it will take ten or twenty years before it can be solved.

Look at the people of China to-day! They know that something
terrible is going to come sooner or later. They dare not think of
the future. The corrupt official lines his pocket with unrighteous
money, preparing to flee to foreign countries or at least to the
Foreign Settlements for safety. The cautious work quietly and do not
desire to earn merit but merely try to avoid giving offence. The
scholars and politicians are grandiloquent and discourse upon their
subjects in a sublime vein, but they are no better than the corrupt
officials. As for our President, he can remain at the head of the
State for a few years. At most he may hold office for several
terms,--or perhaps for his whole life. Then questions must arise as
to who shall succeed him; how to elect his successor; how many
rivals will there be; whether their policies will be different from
his, etc., etc. He personally has no idea regarding the solution of
these questions. Even if the president is a sagacious and capable
man he will not be able to make a policy for the country or fix a
Constitution which will last for a hundred years. Because of this he
is driven merely to adopt a policy so as to maintain peace in his
own country and to keep the nation intact so long as he may live. In
the circumstances such a president can be considered the best
executive head we can have. Those who are worshippers of the
constitutional government cannot do more than he does. Here we find
the reason for the silence of the former advocates of a
constitutional administration. They have realized that by the
formation of the republic the fundamental problem of the country has
been left unsolved. In this wise it happens that the situation is
something like this. Whilst the country is governed by an able
president, the people enjoy peace and prosperity. But once an
incapable man assumes the presidency, chaos will become the order of
the day, a state of affairs which will finally lead to the overthrow
of the president himself and the destruction of the country. In such
circumstances, how can you devise a general policy for the country
which will last for a hundred years? I say that there is no hope for
Chin